毕淑敏·《用“同时”代替“但是”》英译

一位心理学家主张大家应该废弃“但是”，改用“同时”。比如我们形容天气的时候，早先说：今天的太阳很好，但是风很大。今后说：今天的太阳很好，同时风很大。

但是风很大——会把人的注意力凝固在不利的因素上。觉得太阳好不是件值得高兴的事，风大才是关键。借助了“但是”的威力，风把阳光打败。

同时风很大——它更中性和客观，前者余音袅袅，后语也言之凿凿。不偏不倚，公道而平整。它使我们的心神安定，目光精确，两者都观察得到，头脑中自有安顿。

一词背后，潜藏着是如何看待世界和自身的目光。花和虫子一并存在。我们的视线落在哪里？“但是”，是一副偏光镜，让我们聚焦于虫子，把它的影子放得浓黑硕大。“同时”，均衡地透视整体，既看见虫子，也看见无数摇曳的鲜花。

尝试着用“同时”代替“但是”吧。

Better Meanwhile Than But

A psychologist suggests using “meanwhile” instead of “but” in one’s daily conversation. For example, when we talk about weather, we usually say, “Today the sun shines bright but the wind is very strong.” Now you had better say “Today the sun shines bright meanwhile the wind is very strong.”

If you say “but the wind is very strong”, you would direct the listeners’ attention to something unfavorable. It seems the focal meaning is on the wind while the bright sun can be ignored as nothing to be glad about. The word “but” is so linguistically effective as to make “the wind” get the upper hand over “the sunshine”.

If you say “meanwhile the wind is very strong”, your meaning is neutral and objective. When you go from the first part of the sentence to the second, the former still remains lingering in your mind while the second stands out in a clear contrast. It’s not lopsided; it’s fair and even. It sets our mind at ease and makes our eyesight sharp; enabling us to observe both sides and know how to judge things in a right way.

A single word makes such a big difference. It actually involves how we look at the world as well as ourselves. Flowers and insects co-exist in nature. Which do you direct your attention to? “But” is something like a polariscope. If you say “There are flowers, but there are also insects”, you put the focus on insects, and enlarge and blacken their image to attract attention. On the other hand, “meanwhile” gives a balanced view for us to see the whole picture. When we see the insects we also see countless flowers in bloom.

That’s why we advise trying to use “meanwhile” in place of “but”.